Raten helped her off the ground. The tree put them in the branches outside her room. He switched with Sil. They talked for a while about small things, she gave him bowl of blueberries she had grown that the branches brought up for her and he really enjoyed them.
"What's our favorite color?"
Sil chuckled, "well, it's red but I'm wondering if it should be switched to black," he said looking at her outfit.
She chuckled. "The two bikini outfits really are comfortable. The first one, though, the chains were perfect to fight in. This one feels like there are obstructions. The chains got in the way of one of my moves. I was surprised."
"Yes, but you won't be fighting in those because they would show too much flesh to the person you are fighting."
"I need to find a sparing outfit you will approve of. I will try the last one I bought on Wednesday. It's black as well. But you're fine with me wearing them for you? Should I buy something red?"
"How about I buy you something?"
"You can't. The monster will find out about it. Can't he see what you spend your money on? Can't he get the receipts?"
Sil frowned, not wanting to think of such things. "Let's not talk of him. I have you here right now. I just want to be with you."
"Can I ask you a question?"
Sil nodded.
"What is your happiest memory growing up?"
Sil thought about it for a bit. "I'd have to say when Raten, Vorden and I were at the Temple and we played together. The others were mean to us. We were different from them. So, we played and joked and had a lot of fun. What about you?"
She looked away from him for a moment then answered, not looking at him. "When I finally got Midas awake and the trees helped us escape and we got that 3-day reprieve from that place. But my happiest moments ever are these times I spend talking to you. I feel safe, like the world outside doesn't exist. I never thought such a feeling was possible."
Even though Sil heard what she said about being safe with him and it made him happy, her story was still ringing in his ears. Happiest moment… And it sounded like a nightmare. He wanted to get some abilities and go there and burn the place down. Instead, he settled for going back into his mind, to his corner, his knees in his chest and he rocked back and forth.
She hadn't even realized she had been holding her breath and she exhaled. "I'm sorry, I ruined the mood…" as she noticed at some point in her answer, Sil had switched out and Vorden was back. She started picking up her uniform and changing back into the less comfortble outfit. "Thank you for letting me borrow them," refusing to look Vorden in the eyes.
As she was standing up, "Minx," she slowly lifted her head to look at him. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to keep the secret, keep everyone safe. The Little One likes you."
"His name is Sil," she said firmly.
Vorden shook his head in a "whatever" type of motion, "he's asked me to protect you as well. He already has me protecting Quinn and this just makes it a bit harder."
She rolled her eyes, "I'm not looking for protection. I'm looking for someone I can talk to and maybe get rid of these nightmares. I thought since Sil was traumatized, he would be the perfect person, we could talk together and work out our issues. I felt safe with him. I've never felt like that before. Being safe isn't a luxury I've ever had. I guess I don't give him the same feeling." She looked down again.
"Minx, it's not that. He has a temper. I don't think he wants you to see it. Despite the things you talk about together, he still has the emotional maturity of someone much younger. We are still dumbfounded he speaks so candidly with you. We are all terrified of him, but when we are around you, it doesn't seem as scary as it is."
"I think I just want to go back to my room and lay down."
Vorden looked at her, "do you mind if I walk with you? I'm heading that way myself."
She shrugged and they walked together in silence.
There were not many trees on the military campus itself. There were a lot of buildings and scattered manicured trees which means there was not much to them.
What Minx didn't know because the trees were unable to tell her was Dufus worked for Tucker. His job was to watch her and learn about her ability. Even record as much as he could. Dufus was in her homeroom class as well, but she didn't talk to her classmates much, keeping to the people she already knew.
As part of her learning process, she had copious notes. She kept them secure on her at all times so getting them was too difficult but watching her write with cameras was not so difficult with miniaturized technology. The trees just thought they were insects.
The cameras had only recently been used so they have only discovered what she's working on, not what she already knew. They have seen her do things but not with a clear explanation of how it worked. The camera just needed to keep being used. If only her damned bag was not insect-proof, they could have gotten the books out and scanned them that way. Instead, they had to do it the hard way, watching her with the books and watching her to see if they could blackmail her and force her to talk. The thought running through Dufus's head was, could this blond be used to get to her?
Upon returning to the dorms, she took Logan his sandwich. She told him about when the second-years tried to trap her. It had taken her a long time to decide to do so but in the long run, she was hoping he could provide some kind of assistance. He simply nodded at what she had said.
Later that night, Logan decided to investigate her file and try to find Tucker's file as well. What he found was several videos which had Minx with a blond boy he had never seen before sparring and her sparring with a female. Then the other videos of the notebook Minx was writing in. Logan didn't like this idea so he traced who uploaded these videos and looked at their file next after deleting the video footage and inserting footage that was all static.
"I can't have my sandwich maker being used in some way."
In another room, a blond lay on his bed contemplating the complexities of his current life while the Little One slept in the back of his head.
[Raten was the first to speak]: Well weakballs, you sure pegged this one…
[Vorden scoffed]: What do we do about it?
[Raten frowned]: We could kill her even though none of us really want that. She could get us all killed.
[Vorden's eye twitched] Yet we all feel peace in her presence. He told her everything. On the day they met! We are all afraid to talk about it even with each other! Is she using her ability on us?
[Rayen raised an eyebrow] You think if this was her ability she wouldn't use it on herself? How long did she say she was unworthy of us?
[Vorden sighed shaking his head] Maybe this will work itself out. She mentioned creating her own family. Maybe the Little One will be content knowing she's safe on some backworld planet far from here once school is out.
The next morning in homeroom, Minx asked the question: "Sin, if we want to spar with eachother using all of our abilities, is there a teacher or a class that would watch us do that? My team and I think it would help us better than just using Power Fighter. The game has some limitations."
The teacher nodded, "I agree, but you learn unit cohesion in second year. First year is individual skills and basics. Second year is soul weapon and teamwork."
"What if we want to work on it early? I truly think it may help us grow as individuals as well as a team."
The teacher looked around the room, "Does anyone else feel the same way?"
Several hands went up. In total, 4 groups were interested in this type of activity.
He looked aback at Minx, "I'll see what I can do."
Minx smiled. It was the best she could hope for at this time.
Now she just needed to work up the courage to go to Beast Weapons class after lunch.